1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to portable display frames. More particularly, the present invention concerns an erect inverted V-shaped display framework that is collapsible to a compact configuration.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Display frames have enjoyed a wide array of usage. Recently, consumer demands have increased for display frames that are adaptable for use at such events as trade shows or sporting contests. In response to this increased consumer demand, the display frame industry has seen a trend toward the development and use of more creative designs for the display frame or stand. This trend towards creativity, however, has also lead towards complex display frame structures. These complex designs have created a void in the industry for the enhanced development of display frames of basic appeal, such as a collapsible inverted V-shaped framed.
The inverted V-shaped frame offers many advantages beyond its simplicity. Conventional display frames typically offer an inflexible display surface constructed of either wood, plastic or cardboard material. As constructed, these display surfaces are generally rigid and do not facilitate a collapsible display structure. The inverted V-shaped frame of the present invention, however, employs fabric displays, which offer significant advantages in appearance, artistic flexibility, and handling.
In addition to offering an adaptable and aesthically pleasing display surface, the inverted V-shaped frame may act as a barrier. As a barrier, the inverted V-shaped frame may be used, for example, to enclose certain areas, such as playing surfaces in a sporting event, or may be used to restrain vehicle or pedestrian movement, such as the blocking of a road or the barricading of a construction area. Although these various barrier functions typically require a fixed structure, conventional display frame designs have provided portable display signs resembling a barrier. But these conventional display signs have failed to successfully combine the strengths of a portable display frame and a barrier. For example, the conventional designs have neither optimized the compactness of a collapsed configuration nor minimized the weight of the foldable display sign. Further, the conventional display signs typically possess insufficient rigidity to serve as a barrier once manipulated into the erect configuration, because they do not have an effective mechanism for anchoring them in place to withstand certain external forces.
This void in the industry has created a specific need for a portable display framework having a rigid erect inverted V-shaped configuration which is collapsible to a compact configuration, and where the structural elements of the display framework minimizes the weight of the display framework.